The present invention relates to bookholders, and more particularly to bookholders which will support reading materials for reading in a reclined position.
Reading printed materials is one of the most important avenues of acquiring information and most of us spend hours on this activity. While not considered to be physiologically hard work, reading can be surprisingly physically tiring, particularly when in a fully or partially reclined position. This is so because the reader is required to extend his arm above the elevation of the heart in order to keep the book in the proper relationship to his eyes. Fatigue sets in relatively quickly.
Others have recognized the need for bookholders to support reading materials for reading in bed, not only for the infirm or bedridden, but also for healthy people to permit comfortable reading for extended time periods, as shown in the following patents.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,780,027; 2,828,577; 3,740,015, 4,431,156; and Dutch Patent No. 83333; show devices comprising generally book supporting frameworks resting on the bed or secured to the frame or headboard. These frameworks support various holders for engaging the pages of the book or supporting the book on a transparent base. The disadvantage which these devices have in common is that they are relatively confining, since they comprise support members extending bilaterally in close proximity to the reader's body. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,514,066 and 4,465,255 show bookholders having support members extending only on one side, providing some improvement in the sense that the reader has freedom of movement, at least to one side. However, all these devices are essentially restricted to use in bed, and are difficult to move and store since they are relatively complicated and bulky, even in a folded state.